Whoa! Somebody needs to clean that bike!

I don't disagree, having that apex rd though at least gives you that option of dropping bigger cassettes on should the situation dictate... I live in IL along the WI border... it is pretty damn flat here, my cassette is a 12-25 on my apex equip'd bike (coincidentally, shimano 5700 cassette)... so far, and I don't have a ton of road bike miles yet so my overall conditioning/strength isn't all ~that~, I've not yet encountered a hill that I couldn't get thru staying on the big ring up front, I'm sure it will happen soon, though given the terrain around here, if I did drop to the small ring it is still very unlikely I'd have to go higher than than about a 21t cog to make it up... but that is based on MY terrain and MY fitness levels...

triples give the most/best possible range of gears for what I use on most flat to rollin terrain - 86 inch to 70 inch - by using a one step cog set from 13 to 19, then 2 steps to 21 & 23 (9 spd) and I still have a couple good 'grunt' gears for the 14+ gradient climbs.
I really luv that 42 ring in a 52/42/30 triple - you can spin easy and you can cover some roadway if you need to... without using the big meat.

10 spd std 53(52)/39 double also has this - single step, 13-19, then 21,23,25 - just doesn't have the low end for really long hard climbs for this olde pharte , guess I could go 13-19 & 21,24,27 and gain in little.

I really tried compact, on 3 different bikes, 3 different ring (50/36 & 50/34 and asstd cogsets) /cogset combos - it just comes up short to either the std double 10 spd or any triple. I lose gear choices in the 86 to 70 inch range and the low end isn;t all that much better than a std dbl. I'm never quite happy with the gear jumps.
I have a bunch of compact cranksets I'm gonna be puttin up on ebay.
Triple is best for me, cause there's really no terrain I won't ride on a triple.

Shoot now I'm even more torn that before... I'll make a stop at my LBS this weekend and test each of them out! They are located on a hill so it should work out just fine haha. Hmm...

...Or not. I like my compact double just fine, but there is nothing wrong with a triple. I know several very experienced riders that have bought new bikes in the past couple of years and stayed with triples. So, you may if you want to go to a compact crank at some point, but don't feel compelled to. Like I said, there is nothing wrong with a triple -contrary to a lot of popular hype. I would certainly start out with one if you are around any kind of hills.

Yes.. this

I have looked at this triple vs compact thing very closely since I am planning on replacing my triple with a compact. The compact makes more sense for me because I will seldom need to shift the front dr with a compact. I will probably go with a compact 50/34 and a 12/29 Campy 11 speed. I will have almost exactly the same gearing as I have now with a Campy triple 53/42/30 and a 13/26 Campy 10 speed.

Campy 11 speed cassette = 29, 26, 23, 21, 19, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12
Campy 10 speed cassette = 26, 23, 21, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13

The top climbing gear on the compact is 2.46 on the triple it is 2.42 almost the same.
The bottom end speed gear on the compact is 8.73 on the triple it is 8.54 so the compact has a slight advantage.

The jumps between gears on the compact are close to the jumps on the triple. With the triple, you have one cog jumps from the 19 to the last cog. With the compact, you have one cog jumps starting at the 17.

The big advantage for me is that 98% of the gears that I commonly use on the compact will be on one chain ring, the big one. On the triple, I spend 98% of my time in the middle and big chain ring. Only on the nastiest climbs will I need to use the small chain rings on both the compact or the triple.

Compact advantage, less shifting of the front dr., stiffer because it is an Ultra Torque and lighter by 2 lbs.

it doesn't make any sense, and that is because i am wrong. i forgot i had a regular double, no small gear. now i have a compact double with small gears. i was getting my mountain bikes and road bikes confused.

see kids, that is why you should stay away from alcohol and drugs.

You guys know that compact actually refers to the spacing of the bolt pattern of the chain ring retainers and not the gear ratios?

I know I show Dub on a trip but a standard dub is the same spacing as the trip.

Yes, in fact it makes more sense to get a compact than a standard because 52/39 chain rings will go on a 110 BCD compat crank but you can't put a 50/34 chain rings on a standard 130 BCD crank.

This here.

yes, but my double had larger gears than my current compact.

I might add that it would be difficult with a standard 53/39 crank to get the climbing gears that are offered with a compact 50/34 crank.

Except your data says nothing of your conditioning or things such as environmental factors.

2010 Terrible Two
Garmin: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/37479995
Strava: https://app.strava.com/rides/796541

2011 Terrible Two
Garmin: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/93692788
Strava: https://www.strava.com/rides/765952

Both 2010 and this year were mild temperature years by TT standards though each time I did see 100 at one point during the exposed sections of the third climb Skaggs Springs. I don't race at all. Last year I got in 6485 miles, the year before 8100.

Shimano currently does not make a 52T 110 ring, you might be able to get an older ring with some searching.
FSA does have 2 styles of 52T in 110, but neither would work on the NEW style 105, Ultegra 110 crank ( there is no DA 110).
not sure what Campy or SRAM have available in 110 bcd rings, but since SRAM is truvativ, they prolly have sometin...
BTW, no problemos getting a 50T 130bcd ring for 105 or Ultegra, if someone wanted to do that.
but getting a new set of rings will set you back $150+ for FSA, forget Shimano and Campy, in the hundreds there.
sensibly, it might be better to buy what you're gonna use, so 110 if you want smaller than 38 inner ring, 130 if you want 53 outer and happy with 39.

a lot of riders can climb all day in a 40-42 inch gear - that's 39x25, 39x26
not me, I need a 34 inch gear to haul up 16%+ grades of more than a few yds...
for me that's 30x23 on the 13-23 9 spd triple or 34x25 on the compact. But the compact gearing then has huge holes/jumps in the gear range I ride most of the time.

anyway, it's all good
way better than having a 42x21 as a climbing gear, like the olde daze...

triple no problem, got the big meat of a std and the stump puller of a mtb.
for me, shifting is a snap these dayz, I'm not Andy Schleck...

Another vote for SRAM Apex. If you have the money buy an extra wheel and cassette, you could have an 11-26 and an 11-32 and switch as needed.